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More than 50% of UK tenants have problems with landlords and letting agents
Over half of UK tenants have problems with landlords and letting agents and two thirds don’t consider if their letting agent or landlord is licensed, new research has found. The research from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) also found that the top issue is the time it takes to fix problems and on average tenants wait just over a month for issues to be resolved. For those who didn’t consider whether their landlord or agent was licensed, some 54% said it didn’t even cross their mind to check, while 23% did not know that letting agents or landlords should be licensed and 12% wrongly assumed that all letting agents and landlords were licensed and therefore do not know the difference in standards they can expect. This lack of knowledge around the industry may be the reason for many problems which arise during a tenancy, according to ARLA. The research also found before they’d signed on the dotted line, 22% of tenants had concerns about their landlord or letting agent, doubling to 43% amongst Londoners. The most common problems faced by would be tenants at this stage were lack of clarity around fees (8%), agents not knowing enough about the property (6%), being pushy (6%) and not turning up to appointments (6%). Whilst 45% haven’t had any problems with their landlord or letting agent over the last five years, 55% of the tenant population have experienced at least one problem. The most common issue which affected 31% was the amount of time it had taken to fix any problems such as boilers, heating and electricity. Once a problem was flagged, tenants had to wait 36 days on average for the issue to be resolved and an unfortunate one in seven never had their problems sorted. The next most common problem was landlords not replacing old items such as kitchen cupboards and worn carpets, affecting 18% of tenants. For 14% the biggest problem was that they felt their complaints fell on deaf ears. ‘Our home is our castle, and there is no reason for it to not be fit for a King. Just because you rent a property it should not impact your levels of enjoyment, especially as there is such a high price to pay for renting,’ said ARLA managing director David Cox. ‘For anyone looking to rent, there are basic boxes to tick to ensure you receive the best possible end result and this starts with choosing your letting agent and landlord. Choosing an unlicensed letting agent could leave tenants with a long list of problems,’ he added. The research also revealed that for 37% of tenants, the problems they experienced with their landlord or letting agent led to them being stressed and 16% admitted to having sleepless nights. As well as emotional results, many tenants were also left out of pocket, with 14% spending a lot of their own money, and 9% moving out of the property and unfairly losing their deposit. ‘While problems can of course arise during a… Continue reading
Almost half of UK property owners have homes too big for their needs, research sugg
Across the UK, 47% of privately owned households are Tumbleweeders who occupy homes that are too large for their needs, according to new research. In its Housing Futures report, national estate agent Strutt & Parker defines a Tumbleweeder as those who have two or more bedrooms than required for the number of people living in their home and a couple is defined as needing one bedroom. The research shows that under-occupation becomes greater in the peripheral areas of the UK. The five most under-occupied areas in the UK are Rutland in the East Midlands where 63% of residents are Tumbleweeders, Eilean Siar in Scotland at 60%, Monmouthshire in Wales at 59%, The Cotswolds also at 59% and the Orkney Islands in Scotland at 58%. On the whole cities have lower under-occupation. The five least under-occupied areas in the UK are all in central London except Glasgow City where only 19% of residents are Tumbleweeders. City of London is the lowest at 13%, followed by Tower Hamlets at 17%, Westminster at 24% and Hackney at 25%. ‘Lack of supply is often cited as the biggest issue facing the housing industry in the UK. However, these figures clearly show that under-occupation is an equally huge issue,’ said Stephanie McMahon, head of research at Strutt & Parker. ‘The challenge for the industry is to provide suitable solutions to individuals' housing needs. In particular, we need to build more homes that our older generations are prepared to downsize into. As a nation of low supply and high demand, we would rather have all homes occupied efficiently where possible,’ she explained. ‘In reality, Tumbleweeders have the potential to be one of the greatest limiters of supply and, while being discussed in the social housing arena, their impact upon the wider housing market is not currently being addressed,’ she added. But she also pointed out that there are very valid reasons for being a Tumbleweeder, such as those who work in a city and spend weekends in another location may have homes for both. Likewise, empty nesters who have not downsized since their children left home, or indeed families who in the past have had ageing parents living with them may find they now have a house much larger than they really need. Tumbleweeders could also be those with part time families which are increasingly common in the modern age, for example parents whose children only stay with them at the weekends. According to research by Grainger, 41% of households will be occupied by one person by 2033, and three quarters will have no dependent children. Due to our ageing population, 3.8 million older people already live alone in the UK and 70% of these are women. Continue reading
Australian new home approvals at high levels, but uneven across states
New home approvals in Australia bounced back in July and remain at very high levels by historic standards, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). During July 2014, a total of 16,320 dwellings were approved, a 2.5% increase on the previous month. Compared with the previous three month period, approvals were also up by 2.5% and over the 12 months to July new home approvals totalled 195,227. The increase in building approvals nationally during July was driven largely by a 23.1% increase in Western Australia in seasonally adjusted terms. In Queensland approvals were up by 0.9% but there were significant declines in other states, led by a 7.7% fall in Tasmania, followed by a 5.7% decline in New South Wales, a 4.6% decline in Victoria and a smaller fall of 1.9% in South Australia. In trend terms, new home approvals increased by 16.7% in the Northern Territory but fell by 9.3% in the Australian Capital Territory during July. ‘These figures mean that Australia’s home building industry has broken yet another record this year. Total seasonally adjusted new home approvals over the past 12 months are the highest since records began back in 1984. Having broken through the 195,000 threshold for the first time, new home building approvals is now at an even higher level than during the 1994 building boom,’ said Housing Industry Association senior economist Shane Garrett. However, he pointed out that despite this achievement, there have been signs of slowdown in new home building approvals over the past six months. ‘It is also worth bearing in mind that the bulk of the July increase was driven by an exceptional large expansion in Western Australia,’ he said. ‘The key is to ensure that a number of markets, like Sydney for example, achieve sustainably healthy levels of new home over the coming decade which far outweigh what has been built over the last ten years. Numerous government policies across all tiers stand in the way of this objective being achieved,’ he added. Other ABS figures show residential building work done continued to strengthen in the June 2014 quarter, following healthy growth in March. There was $13.4 billion of residential building work done, some 2.2% higher than in the previous quarter and 9.6% higher than in the June 2013 quarter. ‘These preliminary figures indicate that new home building activity is likely to represent a positive contribution to overall GDP growth in the national accounts figures to be released next Wednesday,’ said HIA economist, Diwa Hopkins. She explained that a closer look at these preliminary results shows that the detached house segment was the key driver of growth in residential building during the June 2014 quarter, compared with the March quarter when multi-unit building led the charge. In the June 2014 quarter, new house building work contributed 1.6% points to the 2.2% growth in total residential building work done. ‘These developments are largely in line with what… Continue reading
